Evil In Much Ado About Nothing Essay, Research Paper
English Literature: Is the evil of Don John the only thing which leaves a bad taste in the mouth?
Within Shakespeare s Much Ado About Nothing we are given the opportunity to see played out a variety of the more negative aspects of human nature : Deception, Jealousy, Bitterness, and ultimatly a purer form of evil in the activity of Don John. His presence in the play is really to act as a plot device, since his character has all the appropriate depth of a caricature villain, by which the relationship between Claudio and Hero is nearly destroyed. And yet it cannot be said that the play displays examples of extreme evil and extreme good. For instance, in his attempt to break up the courting couples union through deception and hearsay, we find an inverse parallel in the activities of Leonato, Claudio and Don Pedro, and of Ursula and Hero, when they attempt to trick Benedick and Beatrice respectively into falling for one another. Although their own hoaxes have perhaps a certain grounding in the truth, and do bring about a positive outcome, the means by which they achieve it provides a symmetry to the more dubious goings on, yet brings the two together and associates them.
Secondly Shakespeare was far too intelligent to palm the audience off with the idea that only the influence and activity of Don John could bring about unhappiness. The character acts as a catalyst by which we come to understand the more negative qualities about the good and noble young people. Claudio as we see him becomes transformed from a young man of virtue into a paranoid, vulnerable and finally vindictive and cruel person, culminating in his wedding day when he accuses and disgraces Hero. Claudio accuses Hero of knowing the Heat of a luxurious bed , and that her blush is guiltiness, not modesty . Leonato here displays an uncaring and vicious side to his character, not seen before, in choosing to believe the words of Claudio over those of his daughter. Presumably this relates to the social climate, and the status of women in relation to men. Even so, it seems pretty unthinkable that a father should condemn his daughter Why ever wast thou lovely in mine eyes to her foul tainted flesh – based on someone else s slander.. This behaviour is far more unsettling than the leering pantomime antics of the evil Don.
Even before such distressing events have taken place, the character of the relationship between Claudio and Hero is faintly worrying. Whereas the feelings that develop between Beatrice and Benedick manifest out of long experience with one another with the assistance of their friends, and we can at least be sure that they have some depth to speak of, the flimsyness of their own relationship is perhaps an important factor in its narrowly averted self-destruction. The society of the time is patriarchal and this relationship is one defined by convention, an ornamental and fickle romance. Claudio Earlier in Act 2 Scene 1 he demonstrates his naivety and vulnerability to rumour by accepting the word of Don John Tis certain so, the prince woos for himself, friendship is consistent in all other things save the office and the affairs of love . As a character he is flawed in that his love may not necessarily be directed at a woman of flesh and blood, but at the idea of love itself. Although he praises Hero with the words You seem to me as Dian in her orb, as chaste as is the bud ere it is blown , he clearly cannot love her since he is so unprepared to give her the benefit of the doubt or even to forgive her (Also his ideas of chastity constitute a kind of fantasy view of love, as one wholly without corruption)
The relationship between Beatrice and Benedick is one that can endure less criticism, for it is one of the more amusig, fun, aspects of the play. It is quite easy to identify at the beginning of the play that these two, in being complimentary matches for one another across the gender divide, have certain suppressed affections for one another. In only one instance, during the very first scene, does their Merry War become slightly less merry and anything other than playful rivalry and wordplay; when both seem to lose their tempers and their banter becomes a lot more vituperative You are a rare Parrot teacher I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than hear a man swear he loves me . The only other really contentious point occurs when Beatrice asks Benedick to kill Claudio as proof of his manhood and devotion to her; not only does this reveal how Claudio s negative behaviour is growing cumulatively but it also displays in more unpleasant detail Beatrice s denigrations of male pretensions to valour. Her concept of masculine fulfillment perhaps find a mirror in Benedicks paranoia about cuckoldry and rejection. Both reveal fairly narrow minded perceptions on the relationships between men and women and the roles expected of them.
As the play draws to a close Claudio is deceived into thinking that he has lost Hero and must make up for what he has done. Leonatio orders Claudio to inform the inhabitants of Messina of the truth of Hero s death, hang her an epitaph upon her tomb , and marry Antonio s daughter (who looks like Hero). The latter is of course another trick where Claudio is lead to believe he is marrying Hero s cousin, but ends up marrying Hero herself, providing the necessary happy ending to the play. This deception was devised by Leonato to demonstrate that Claudio can be honourable as opposed to hot-headed and superficially judgmental, therefore supposedly re-establishing his character in our eyes as one of virtue. By this however he also shows himself to be relatively unconcerned about the success of this marriage. Someone who behaves like Claudio has done should not be a tempting prospect for either a husband or a son-in-law, yet Leonato is prepared to accept and forgive what seems to be unforgivably harsh treatment of his daughter. If this signifies that the marriage may have political or social benefits to him, or whether it simply reflects the perceived vast superiority of men over women, it is an important social comment, and one that finds a subtle niche in a supposedly frivolous play.
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